5 nuggets of knowledge about vacations

America may be the home of the free but not when it comes to vacations. We spend more time chained to our workplace than most of the free world.

CNNMoney.com reports that typically workers will need to put in at least 10 years before they receive 15 days paid vacation days and 10 paid holidays, while in Finland, workers receive double the paid vacation days on average — 30 — as well as 14 paid holidays.

While Finland’s workers enjoy far more time off than American workers, the majority of European countries also rank way ahead of us in the paid hammock time category. Workers in the European Union receive a minimum, by law, of 20 vacation days plus paid holidays.

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We should consider ourselves lucky we don’t take our vacation cues from the Philippines or Thailand where workers only receive a total of 19 paid days off a year. Our neighbors to the north are pretty stingy as well — Canadian workers are stuck on the number 20 for paid vacations and holidays.

Ahhh …

summer vacation

“No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks.”

While the average American employee toils away nearly year-round, school kids still have it made when it comes to the three-months-long summer vacation.

Most people have assumed the time-honored break was due to when more people lived a rural as opposed to city life. They reasoned kids needed the time off to help work the family farms during the summer months. Not true, say some historians, who note most rural school districts in the 1800s held winter and summer school terms with a short break in spring to help plant crops and again in the fall to help with the harvest.

The concept of the long break became commonplace around the beginning of the 20th century when educational reformers like Horace Mann advocated for time off on the theory that “over stimulating young minds could lead to nervous disorders or insanity.”

We would be remiss at the old nuggets of knowledge if we didn’t acknowledge the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” franchise, which introduced the world to Clark Griswold’s Walley World obsession— the fictitious Holy Grail of theme parks in 1983.

Like all good filmmakers, the folks at National Lampoon, realizing they had a cash cow on their hands, jumped right back into the studio and in no time released sequels “European Vacation” in 1985 and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” in 1989.

Things slowed down in Griswold land until 1997 when “Vegas Vacation” hit the big screen. Things really hit rock bottom when stars Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo had the good sense to opt out of the made-for-TV “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure” in 2003.

Travel magazines and television programs typically cue the reader or viewer to the best spots for a vacation. What about those places you should avoid like the plague, or the swine flu?

Forbes Traveler offers its suggestions for some of the “world’s worst tourist traps:”

• The Pyramids, Egypt

• Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

• Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

• Forbidden City, Beijing

• Piazza San Marco, Venice

• Notre Dame, Paris

• Times Square, New York City

• Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles

• Trevi Fountain, Rome

• Downtown Cancun, Mexico

• Piccadilly Circus, London

We don’t know about travelers in general, but we wouldn’t mind shelling out a few Ben Franklins, Euros, Drachmae, Francs or Lire to see some of these “tourist traps,” although we could do without Hollywood, Cancun and Times Square.

Michigan,

water wonderland

Why bother trekking the globe when some of the greatest vacations in the world can be found right here in the Great Lakes state?

Gaylord, of course, comes to mind with its county and state park campgrounds situated on either side of Otsego Lake.

Then there are the incredible Great Lakes, four of which border Michigan — Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie. The lake system, which includes Lake Ontario, contains about 84 percent of North America’s surface fresh water and 21 percent of the world’s supply.

Lake Superior is truly superior, containing the largest body of fresh water in the world. The world. Yes the world! Cool.

Speaking of cool, the average Lake Superior surface temperature on Monday was only in the upper 30s. Brrrr.